“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.” - George W. Bush

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

The White House said on Tuesday that Barack Obama does not believe he needs congressional authorisation for the “next, more offensive” phase in an ongoing military campaign against jihadist militants in Iraq and Syria

The White House is wrong. Obama says he doesn’t need Congress to change immigration statutes or to enforce existing laws. The White House allows, if not abets, various government agencies, like the IRS and EPA to work outside the law. Obama may as well say that he doesn’t need the law because he is the law.It is all very well for the US to take emergency action in Iraq to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces to protect civilians from the slaughter by ISIS. The US has responsibility for the destabilization of Iraq and previous US interference in Syria and the ongoing disaster in Libya. There has been no accounting for the US military and CIA support of the insurgent groups fighting the Assad government.The US has in many ways directly supported ISIS. ISIS fights with US weapons that never belonged in the area in the first place. The US has directly supported the Turk, Saudi and Israeli interference in Syria, supporting the chaos along with the collapse of authority in Iraq.There are still calls from all the usual suspects about aiding and arming the “moderate forces” fighting the Syrian government. Obama is foolishly falling for the bait and involving the US in Syria while supporting the insurgency against the Syrian government. If ISIS needs to be destroyed, and I believe it does, it is because they are lawless violent thugs and murderers, spawned by the calamity and breakdown of Iraqi society, caused by the Neocon designed mission to have the US destabilize the Middle East for the benefit of Israel.We should support the governments and forces fighting ISIS. We should follow US law and involve Congress in the decision making. Support should be limited in that the ground forces should be other than from the US. US support should only be used as a last resort.Will any of that happen? No, we have a lawless president and a congress that is beholden to anyone that funds their egos, political campaigns and subsidizes their livelihood and fortunes when they leave office.Without lawful support and disclosure to the US public on past US support for ISIS, I for one, oppose the expansion of the US military into Syria. It is a huge mistake.

123 comments:

There is a paradox in a decision to put the US in the front of this action. The more the US takes charge and acts independently of the local authorities, the more dramatic will be the apparent destruction of ISIS. It will raise the morale of the locals, make for good television, video and high fives for the politicians. It will also be worse for the US public and domestic security.

A dramatic smashing of ISIS will cause them to scatter, to dissolve the large formations and disperse them through the Arab and western world. What happens then? How will they be monitored and tracked? What will happen to domestic surveillance?

The propensity and likelihood for unintended consequences will be multiplied by such a strategy. It is simply not a smart move to telegraph every punch and that is what we will be doing. ISIS on the defense will be more dangerous than when they are on offense.The better it looks at the beginning, the worse it will get on the back side.

Our domestic security services will only make us more vulnerable in many ways not being considered. I am not going to give an idea list but will mention one obvious one that has concerned me for some time:

The scenario would be simple for a domestic terrorists to promote a heightened state of alert. That is easy and takes very few people to do it. The government goes into a knee-jerk reaction at very airport in the country and slows down the examination process by the absurd PC methods of checking everybody. At crucial commuting times, all the inspection points are slowed to a virtual stop. The TSA has created huge bottlenecks of commuters awaiting ID and baggage checks. In at least three different airports I have counted crowds in excess of five hundred people during these times. None of these governmental created choke points have the means to pre-screen passengers with carry on luggage and bags before the group congregations. A small group of motivated maniacs could herd the crowd at the perimeter like sheep dogs and simultaneously kill hundreds, effectively shutting down US aviation for days.

This is the beginning of madness.

It would be far better to use underwhelming force in the background and let the local ground forces do 95% of what needs to be done and stay away from the dual agenda of those who want us to support the enemies of Syria. Our governmental priority should be US security. The anticipated and foreshadowed actions by Obama will likely make it worse for all of us.

Yeah it has been done but I think they've already pegged the current bombs as coming from America much to the headless journo's chagrin and I don't think they'll be fooled in the future. On top of that it looks as if Obama will be using the Megaphone tonight to reinforce his already stated position of 'they are the enemy'.

Drones, high altitude bombing and fighters at supersonic speeds all kill before you even see them. You cannot appreciate airpower until you have a fighter jet at supersonic fly low over you. You dive or get knocked to the ground with a “what the fuck was that?” then you get the chest thump.

yeah, a Russian sticker on one of them supersonic flying machines won't do much. Heck, I think America would get credit for any death from above even if it were, in actuality, delivered by the ruskies.

If everything we have heard about ISIS from the military 'experts' is true, their leadership is intelligent and their battle plans involved movements in formation that have proven to be well-thought-out and effective in Syria and Iraq. Now that US air power has been added to the mix and local forces have regrouped and made some advances, it would be naive to assume IS will continue with the same ol same ol. If things get hot for them in Iraq/Syria I expect their tactics will morph and they will begin to more fully utilize insurgency type tactics like infiltration, hit-and-run, etc.

With regard to attacks on this country, only a fool would assume the US won't eventually be hit by another terror attack. It is inevitable when confronted by dedicated enemy with no moral compass but plenty of time. We are a big country and we have a lot of holes. Despite the billions we spend on security here, there have been attacks, though with rare exceptions they have been unsuccessful. When we think of terrorist today, we automatically think of Islamic terrorists; yet, a quick google check will show that the country has been suffering terror attacks from various groups since the 1800's.

I don't fly enough these days to comment on Deuce's analysis of current TSA activities. My main fear is that when the inevitable attack comes there will be an overreaction by officials and the public that seriously multiplies the impact of the actual attack. More long term, you can add to that the predictable cry of 'protect us at all costs' bleeted by the sheeple and the government's predictable and reflexive tightening of laws granting further police powers to the state and diminishing the rights of the public including the right to get on a plane and fly from here to there.

Well, your "experts" are full of it. Invading Iraq, before they were finished in Syria, was a Strategic disaster, and allowing themselves to get bogged down in dozens of small towns, and villages, with Baghdad breathing free and easy was idiotic.

They are merely psychopathic lunatics in search of a place to die - and, now, they've found it.

In sobering press conference Friday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said ISIS has shown that it is “as sophisticated and well-funded as any group that we have seen.”

“They’re beyond just a terrorist group. They marry ideology, a sophistication of strategic and tactical military prowess. They are tremendously well-funded,” he said. “This is beyond anything that we’ve seen.”

While Hagel may be prone to a little hyperbole, in the run up to US intervention in Iraq, anyone who watched the television news programs saw numerous military 'experts', ex-generals, -colonels, -CIA, and analysts, describe ISIS' sweep through Iraq as 'classic' from a military standpoint, well thought out and executed. Their's was a sophisticated assault using the tools at hand, confiscated weapons and equipment including observation drones, as well as, social media for spreading fear and for recruitment. They have resources and are well funded. Despite what some here might think, their leadership is not stupid.

Their ONLY chance of succeeding was to take Baghdad. So, what did they do? They "kept" Mosul, and all the other little shitholes that no one would ever "miss" in a thousand years, and left Baghdad unscathed. They were "dead" from that point on.

WiO has some good suggestions here. The place is a mess with a myriad of vicious competing factions all jonesing for US "close air support" and any other US military punch that will serve their agenda.

I think there are a few problems with your prescription Deuce:1.) Keeping the US involvement to only be from the air has already been violated (there are numerous 'advisors' already working the conflict, even Canada has provided personnel) Presumably this is because (contrary to Rufus's rose colored assessment) is because they are needed.2.)Getting Congress involved makes the decision making and implementation process slow, cumbersome and, possibly, not going in the direction you proscribe. Sure, it would be great if congress adopted your view and implemented legislation quickly in that order but there is no guarantee that a majority of the critters could put their partisan differences aside, and genuine ideas of how to go on this (more, faster faster, invade blah blah ala McCain or don't touch it of Paul) in order to jump on your idea of how to go forward.

The President DOES NOT need further Authorization to use military force.Anywhere in the world.

He has it, already.

S.J.Res. 23 (107th): Authorization for Use of Military Force

Introduced: Sep 14, 2001 (107th Congress, 2001–2002)Status: Enacted — Signed by the President on Sep 18, 2001 Law: This resolution became the law numbered Pub.L. 107-40.

It states in plain, unambiguous English.

Authorization for Use of Military Force - Authorizes the President to use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, in order to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations, or persons.States that this Act is intended to constitute specific statutory authorization within the meaning of the War Powers Resolution.

A 20-year-old Muslim woman from Glasgow, Scotland left her parents weeping after she called from the Turkish-Syria border to tell them she is serving the ISIS machine of evil and “wants to become a martyr.”

Aqsa Mahmood, a radiography student, left home in November and has posted messages on Twitter urging western women to carry out terrorist attacks and “follow the examples of your brothers from Woolwich, Texas and Boston.”

At least 20 British women have joined ISIS thanks to social media, Melanie Smith, of King’s College International Center for the Study of Radicalization told the Guardian. Other reports put the number of British women in the ISIS at 60.

She estimates that approximately 200 western women have joined ISIS, which has popularized beheading and has taken brutal gang rapes to a new extreme.

The 20-year-old Mahmood presumably is not in charge of lining up rape victims for ISIS murderers, who do very well by themselves.

Her job as president of the jihadist version of the Sisterhood is to supervise the women’s police force in Rakka, where a British-accented ISIS killer beheaded journalists James Foley and Steve Sotloff. The force of approximately 20 women keep a watch and punish women if they do not behave as good Muslims, fully covered and accompanied by a man when in public lest they fall into the clutches of an intelligent human being.

As for the “Brotherhood” side of the ISIS, their code of good behavior is a bit different. One woman captive of ISIS told an Italian reporter of brutal sexual harassment. She said a 17-year-old was one of 40 women, some of them still in captivity and as young as 13, who were sex slaves for the ISIS.

One of the most important functions of the women is to bear as many children as possible to ensure the growth of the ISIS and help it fulfill its devotion to Allah and destroy Western civilization.

Asqa Mahmood’s parents told CNN they pleaded with her daughter to come home “in the name of Allah.” Of course, she has decided that she is acting in the name of Allah and has married one of the ISIS terrorists, so there really is not much to talk about. They said that their daughter was “brainwashed.”

Two of the British girls have been identified as 16-year-old twin sisters, Zahra and Salma Halane, who followed their brother’s move to Syria, left their Manchester home in June and are believed to have married ISIS members.

>>It seems as if the administration is simply attacking some groups, like IS and al Qaeda, harassing others, like the Taliban and al-Shabab, and leaving others alone, like Boko Haram -- without any clear criteria for why. One test of the president's speech on Wednesday is if he addresses this issue. The president admitted earlier that his administration didn't have a strategy for dealing with IS. Now I wonder if it goes further: if the administration has no strategy for the long war as a whole. <<

If Quirk had been reading my posts he would have known that you can buy Maryjane with your government issued debit card before hearing it on his car radio while driving aimlessly around Detroit sipping a brewski.

With an average 499K total viewers, Anderson Cooper 360 was the most-watched show on CNN in primetime for the quarter. Anderson Cooper’s 8 p.m. show was the second-highest rated hour on CNN in the demo with 158K behind CNN Special Report’s 170K.

Another bright spot for CNN came in the form of Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown, which was the #1 show across all of cable news in the 25-54 demo, averaging 402K over its eight Sunday night episodes. That show helped make CNN #1 in the the weekend primetime demo for Q2 with an average 189K viewers and #2 among total viewers with 483K.

If Quirk had been reading my posts he would have known that you can buy Maryjane with your government issued debit card before hearing it on his car radio while driving aimlessly around Detroit sipping a brewski.

If you had read my post you might have noticed that my post had nothing to do with 'buying' marijuana but with getting it for 'free'. Just as important was the fact that the city council was confiscating 2% of the physical stock of the merchants selling the marijuana to assure there was enough stock to support their magnanimous gesture.

Merely, another one of your problems, rat. You seem unable to follow the flow of the conversation. Bob's post was in response to Deuce's question, Your point? which in turn was prompted by Bob's earlier statement talking of the use of chlorine gas in Syria, Ah, more gassing of moslems by moslems.

The response to Duece's question was Bob's opinion,

My point?

Obama doesn't know what the hell he is doing, moslems are excellent at killing moslems.

What's so hard about that?

Since you asked.

The rest of the post was merely a response to the tangential issue raised by Deuce of his old bete noires of Lincoln and the Civil War.

Your views, not initially stated, that Bob's wife is a fictional character have never been proven and frankly I doubt that the majority of people here, even those who dislike Bob, believe it. You on the other hand on a numerous occasions continue to lie and misrepresent.

I take everything anyone says here about their personal life as true. Mainly because we are a small group and what in the world would prompt someone to lie. Admittedly, on at least one occasion, I have been proven to be too credulous but I still give everyone here the benefit of the doubt including you.

That being said, given your history of lies and misrepresentations, if I were to doubt anyone about the tales they tell of there personal life it would have to be you. At least that is how I see it. You, being an author, may define your posts merely as creative writing.

Let's start with today. Bob says he has a wife. You say she is a 'fiction'.

Using your own standard, 'time and date stamp' you have failed to provide any evidence that what you say is true. However, since this may not technically be called a 'lie' or 'misrepresentation' but rather merely a cheap calumny, let me try another. Going back a few streams I came up with this,

Jack HawkinsMon Sep 08, 10:36:00 AM EDT

What is "Occupation"Mon Jul 21, 09:33:00 PM EDTIf there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost…

This post encapsulates the mendacity of the rat. You have offered this quote in various posts and with different iterations of the theme suggesting that WiO has said that Israel actually lost the recent tussle in Gaza. Any regular on this blog would know that is highly unlikely. More to the point, anyone reading the entirety of WiO's quote would have to be a fool to actually believe the meaning you posit.

This is pure rat. You mislead by truncating the full post including the preceding line which adds context.

I [sic] the end, Hamas and it's supporters will claim victory.. No matter reality...

If there is one Hamas member still alive and spitting? Israel lost...

Reading the entire post WiO's meaning becomes clear. As WiO mentions above, your interpretation has been questioned and corrected here before. You have been called on that interpretation a number of times and not just by WiO, yet you continue to post it which IMO constitutes willful lying.

When you continue to keep re-posting this truncated version of WiO's post, it tells me you are either perverse or simply felony stupid.

We’re in the midst of a rare slowdown in the growth of health spending. That slowdown just hit the employer health insurance market.

On Wednesday, the Kaiser Family Foundation published its annual survey on the health plans that employers are offering their workers. It’s large and comprehensive and generally regarded as the most reliable measure of what’s happening in the employer market.

The big finding is that the growth in health insurance premiums was only 3 percent between 2013 and 2014. That’s tied for the lowest rate of increase since Kaiser started measuring (this is the 16th year of the survey).

For the past few years, health spending as measured in all kinds of ways has been encouraging. Spending growth in Medicare and Medicaid are down. National health spending is down. But employer health premiums were a little slower to catch on.

The growth in employer premiums has typically been in the double digits every year. That runaway growth has meant problems for workers and the economy. Over the past few decades, employers began dropping health coverage, and premium increases eroded income growth. Some talked about the employer benefit system as a doomed anachronism. The new trend, if it holds, looks a lot more . . . . .

So what you are saying is that one day, one of the drug dealers you buy pot from or one of your illegal gun buys goes south and blows you away, since he or she will never be arrested and convicted, killing you is not a crime?

A logical corollary would be if we live in a land where the executive can pick and choose which laws to enforce then we can no longer claim to be a 'a nation of laws' and have devolved to become 'a nation of men'.

There is no doubt 'a nation of law' is/was the ideal. That is why the founders wrote the Constitution, a document defining roles, responsibility, and level of authority. While the Constitution granted the executive a level of authority in the Constitution, I doubt they ever envisioned the amount of executive authority 'assumed' by various executive branches. Rather than get into the issue myself, I will merely post one opinion piece that outlines the problem. There are numerous other columns, articles, and books out there touching on the same subject.

U.S. Attorney Amanda Marshall said this week that prosecutors in her office are analyzing the 29 pages of rules guiding Oregon’s medical marijuana dispensaries – a thriving, and until now, unchecked industry.

A new state law directed the state to create a registry of medical marijuana dispensaries. The Oregon Health Authority spent months drafting rules for the program, which begins accepting applications Monday. (Here's a detailed Q&A about the new program.)

Marshall, whose office has prosecuted large-scale medical marijuana grow sites linked with black market trafficking, said she’s tracked the rule-making process for dispensaries. She said she is particularly interested in making sure Oregon’s program is well-regulated and strictly enforced.

“Our goal is to see the state be successful,” said Marshall. “Our goal is not to stop the state from moving ahead with their policy decision.”

In a huge win for marijuana reform, the United States House voted 219-189 in favor of the Rorhabacher-Farr Amendment to the government’s appropriations bill. The amendment, simply put, bars the US Department of Justice from spending any taxpayer dollars to interfere with people and businesses that are in compliance with medical marijuana laws in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

The Department of Justice includes the Drug Enforcement Administration… so no more DEA raids of medical marijuana dispensaries and gardens! No more harassment and arrest of medical marijuana patients!

Justice also includes the US Attorneys’ Offices… so no more threatening US Attorney letters to governors who try to implement dispensaries! No more seizure threats against the landlords who rent to the marijuana dispensaries!

The appropriations bill still must be heard by the Senate, which is likely to have its own funding scheme for the DEA. Both versions would then be heard by a conference committee, which the Rohrabacher-Farr Amendment would have to survive in order to be signed into law by the president. So it’s not a done deal yet and you can bet that DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart will be lobbying as many congressmen as she can to strike that amendment.

The vote wasn’t as bipartisan, however, with only 49 Republicans joining 170 Democrats to pass the Amendment.

Yet those 49 Republicans represent a shift on medical marijuana on the right side of the aisle. “This measure passed because it received more support from Republicans than ever before,” explained Dan Riffle of Marijuana Policy Project in a statement. “It is refreshing to see conservatives in Congress sticking to their conservative principles when it comes to marijuana policy. Republicans increasingly recognize that marijuana prohibition is a failed Big Government program that infringes on states’ rights

U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., whose office will have to decide how to handle marijuana possession cases that will no longer qualify as criminal offenses under District law but will remain prosecutable under federal law.

The witnesses who did testify Friday made clear that Machen and his successors as the city’s top federal prosecutor will play a central role in how decriminalization plays out in the District. And while Machen himself did not testify, his office gave the first indication of how it plans to handle minor marijuana arrests under the new D.C. law.

In a statement to The Washington Post, the office said it will charge marijuana possession carefully, if not reluctantly: “We will assess each case on an individualized basis, weighing all available information and evidence, consistent with Justice Department enforcement priorities and the need to use our limited investigative and prosecutorial resources to address the most significant threats to public safety,”

If Quirk had been reading my posts he would have known that you can buy Maryjane with your government issued debit card before hearing it on his car radio while driving aimlessly around Detroit sipping a brewski.

If you had read my post you might have noticed that my post had nothing to do with 'buying' marijuana but with getting it for 'free'. Just as important was the fact that the city council was confiscating 2% of the physical stock of the merchants selling the marijuana to assure there was enough stock to support their magnanimous gesture.

Perhaps, you now know why I usually scroll past your posts.

Nitwit.

.

..................

Nitwit !!!!

Just another is the unending series of microaggressions by that rabid man Quirk against my myself.

Why We Shouldn't Be Scared of ISIS: Threat Inflation and Our Next Dumb War

Before we commit to a third Iraq War, can we at least get real about what we’re actually up against?

More than a dozen years after the horrors of 9/11, we find ourselves in a Groundhog Day-style nightmare. We wake up yet again to find ourselves terrified of a radical Islamist group that shows no compunction about barbarically killing American civilians and gets off on issuing apocalyptic warnings about a coming age of Allah uber Alles. These days, ISIS is wired; al Qaeda is tired; and Saddam Hussein and Qaddafi expired.

“God willing,” proclaims an ISIS spokesman, “we will raise the flag of Allah in the White House.” Administration officials are only too happy to play along as well. ISIS, explains Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk, “is worse than al Qaeda,” while a deputy secretary of defense warns that ISIS has proclaimed, “We’re coming for you, Barack Obama.”

And so we’re being gulled into a new-and-improved crusade to fix a Middle East still utterly destabilized in large part due to our still-smoldering failure to reshape desert sand into a form more to our desires. As we prep for the next “smart war” engineered by Obama (he’s against “dumb wars,” remember, and lives by the credo “don’t do stupid shit”), it’s worth acknowledging that the signature characteristic of America’s 21st-century war on terrorism and foreign policy has been massive threat inflation at every level. Until we fully grok that terrorism—whether state-sponsored or stateless—thrives on the overreaction of its targets and that we have overreacted so far at virtually every turn, we have no hope of enacting real solutions......

Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is a New York writer focusing on radical Islam. He is completing a book on the international challenges America faces in the 21st century.

The Jews are behind everything. No dirty politician takes an inappropriate photo of himself without the Jews being behind it.

Geri Muller, the pro-Hamas mayor of the Swiss town of Baden, is embroiled in a sex scandal that has resulted in fresh conspiracy theories against his Jewish opponents. A 33 year old woman who identified herself as N.W. rang the doorbell of Muller’s ex wife and, while making suicide threats, was armed with nude selfies of the Mayor, who lewdly invited her to a sexual encounter.

The scandal in Switzerland, known as Geri-gate has led to accusations that the Jews are behind it all, with allegations that N.W. met with prominent figures in the Swiss Jewish community prior to the revelation. Baden Jewish community president, Josef Bollag and Sacha Wigdorovits were accused of coaching N.W. to get revenge against the Mayor’s support of Hamas. Wigdorovits and Bollag admitted that they were approached by N.W., but said they referred her to third parties.

In 2010, Muller went to the Gaza strip and posed for a photo with Hamas minister Ismail Haniyeh. He also had another selfie snapped with Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri. Muller is involved in the Council for European Palestinian Relations, which Israeli officials says is a Hamas front organization.

Muller says he was given death threats and claimed he had to escape to the Alps.

Sure, he had to “escape” to the Alps.

Any politician or professor who behaves repugnantly, whether it’s Geri Muller or Steven Salita, can instantly become a martyr by blaming the Jews. Muller’s people successfully shifted the focus from his behavior to conspiracy theories involving the Jewish community.

American Ex-Pats in Fairly Large Numbers Are Relinquishing their Citizenship.

No, not IS members.

A particular bugbear is the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA), which came into force at the end of June this year with the intention of combating tax evasion. It requires all Americans to provide the IRS with detailed information on their foreign financial accounts and offshore assets, and also requires that foreign financial institutions divulge any accounts held by Americans, as well as any entities in which Americans have financial interest.

This latter point has proved controversial, with some countries claiming it violates local laws, and expats saying that certain banks are now unwilling to service them due to the increased administrative burden and the risk of misfiling to the IRS and being hit by penalties.

Individuals can also be hit by steep penalties for misfiling, even by accident. Fines start at $10,000 and criminal charges can apply if the IRS decides information was withheld "willfully".

"My filing requirements and possible penalties are very much different (to U.S. residents)," Jim Rogers, a renowned U.S. investor who lives in Singapore, told CNBC. "It is treating Americans who live abroad differently—you would think it is some kind of discrimination."

Rogers, who was born in Baltimore, said that relinquishing citizenship "crosses the minds of everybody lives abroad".

"I know three or four Americans who are basically being forced to give up citizenship. If you make simple mistakes it could cost you—it could be a criminal offense, or at least a very financially onerous one," he told CNBC.

Read MoreAre expat packages a thing of the past?

The U.S. is the only country in the world which levies taxes on the basis of citizenship rather than residency—meaning people can be liable to the IRS without ever having lived in the country, if they hold a U.S. passport or green card.

>>>Mankind is undergoing a major evolutionary transition comparable to the shifts from prosimians to monkeys, monkeys to apes, and apes to humans, according to Cadell Last, an evolutionary anthropology Ph.D. student and researcher at the Global Brain Institute.

Human life expectancy has already increased from about 45 at the start of the 20th century to 80 today. Last predicts it will increase to 120 as soon as 2050 — a concept known as radical life extension — through a combination of new technology, behavior, and natural selection.

In addition to longer lives, humans will demonstrate delayed sexual maturation and biological reproduction, according to Last. Taken together, these changes could signify a new type of human. <<<

"It's clear to me that we need to train and equip Syrian rebels and other groups in the Middle East that need some help," Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday. "The president has tried to get that from us and we should give it to him.

...

A senior GOP aide said Republican leaders were keeping an open mind on the subject but noted that lawmakers in both parties have expressed reservations about the administration's lack of follow-up details to earlier requests for assistance to Syrian rebels.

Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson said Reid may opt to press the idea as legislation separate from the government-wide funding bill. That's also an option for the GOP-led House.

Obama takes exception to the term “Islamic” in the name ISIL. He sees a possible threat against the US as thousands of foreign fighters including Americans are part of the organization.

In claiming 150 US arial attacks, Obama says we have saved thousands. He is satisfied that Iraq has formed a more perfect union and now the US will expand the air attacks with Iraqis on the ground. He will follow ISIL into Syria.

An additional 475 US troops to go to Iraq for ground support. Obama says he will support the Syrian opposition “against ISIL”. (There is no way that can be directed only at ISIL. It is a ruse to drive out Assad).

Kerry in the Middle East to rally support for Sunni confrontation to ISIL.

Obama says this time will be different using US air power supporting partners on the ground.

Obama reflects back to 911, thirteen years ago. Touts economic and technological expansion and the mission of the US to support Ukraine against Russian aggression and ebola.( that out to get Putin’s attention!)

This will take a long time. It will not be a slam dunk. It will get complicated and it will be ugly. I believe that ISIS has embedded itself deeply and has allies in Turkey. As usual Saudi is talking out of both sides of its mouth. Israel will be whatever it can to focus more on Assad than ISIS. Obama has made a huge mistake with Syria involvement and this will make it longer and uglier.

Wife's been in Penang for the last couple weeks for her 25-year high school reunion so I've been flying solo for a bit. Finally got bunch of junk accumulating in the garage hauled off to the dump and shit-canned. Perfect time to do it while she's gone. Garage looks a lot better. I'm going to hear about it 'though when she gets back Sunday. Oh well. Worth it.

I still need to get those pictures to you somehow. I think you would like them. Some interesting old historic shots from all over the world.

The U.S. now is preparing a broader air campaign that could hit a wider variety of targets in Iraq, including Islamic State's logistics hubs and supply lines. U.S. Air Force and Navy planes are also likely to act more directly in concert with Iraqi and Kurdish forces on the ground.

To improve coordination with Iraqi forces, Mr. Obama intends to send as many as 475 additional troops into Iraq. That will include two division headquarters of about 200 soldiers' total, to help coordinate operations with Iraqi forces and help oversee training efforts by the U.S. and its partners.

U.S. military officers in Iraq have been working to identify Sunni tribal groups that could be cajoled to end their tacit support for Islamic State and instead join the fight on the side of the Iraqi government. But a senior defense official said that the tribes remain wary, reminding U.S. officials about the sectarian policies pursued by the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government in the aftermath of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq at the end of 2011.

TEHRAN — Iranians are as obsessed as Americans these days with the black-clad gangs roaming Iraq and Syria and killing Shiites and other “infidels” in the name of Sunni Islam. At the supermarket, in a shared taxi or at a family gathering, conversations often turn to the mysterious group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, and how it came to be.

And for most Iranians, the answer is obvious: the United States.

“Come on, you know who has created ISIS,” said the supermarket owner, winking his right eye. “Admit it,” demanded the taxi driver, hitting his steering wheel to make his point. “It is so obvious!” concluded the talkative uncle at the birthday party.

ISIS, Iranian leaders have been saying for a long time, is made-in-the-U.S.A., a tool of terror intended by the world’s superpower to divide and conquer the energy-rich Middle East and to counter the growing influence of Iran in the region.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has often said that he believes ISIS was created by the United States as a way to regain a foothold in Iraq and to fight President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, an ally of Iran.

“We have evidence, we know,” he told an audience of clerics last week, without elaborating.

Ayatollah Khamenei reminded them that Al Qaeda — a creation of the Central Intelligence Agency, Iran has said — and the Taliban were, in the eyes of Iranian intelligence, devised by the West as a counterweight to Iran.

“There is no doubt that these movements are created by Western powers and their regional agents,” Mr. Khamenei has insisted.

His words, echoed by many others in Iran, have been resonating on state television, which is the main tool for disseminating propaganda and is watched all over the country.

On Wednesday it showed what it said were images of Senator John McCain, the hawkish Arizona Republican, at a meeting with the current caliph of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “These say more than a thousand words regarding the links between the United States and this group,” an announcer added.

Iranians are often the first to dispute rash ideological statements by their leaders, usually creating flurries of text messaged jokes in response. And some skeptical voices could be heard.

“It is essentially a terrorist group of the extremist Muslim sects of the region against the other sects,” Mehdi Mirzaei, 27, a student of English literature, said of ISIS. “I am pretty sure that America is not supporting ISIS. That is all nonsense.”

But the claim that ISIS is a creation of the Obama administration has gained wide traction here. From the Iranian viewpoint, shaped by their spotty exposure to Western culture, analysts say, creating a terrorist organization opposed to Iranian interests is the obvious thing for a superpower to do.

“These ISIS fighters, they remind me of American cowboy movies,” said Mostafa Faramazian, an employee of the Oil Ministry. He had seen clips of the Sunni fighters driving along the desert plains of Iraq and Syria, like outlaws in the wild West. “They are performing the American dream in a faraway land,” Mr. Faramazian said. “Their goal is to make us weak, like they did with the Indians.”

Iran also has a long history of victimhood, whether to Mongol invaders or Western intelligence agencies and oil companies. Iranians, with their language and faith, often feel lonely and isolated in the world arena.

“Where most other states in the region were formed by colonial powers, Iran is an ancient empire,” said Housang Tale, a historian and self-described nationalist. The West, he said, and especially the United States as a superpower, is well aware of Iran’s great potential and therefore has committed itself to stopping the country from progressing in any way.

“Without groups like ISIS we can revive our empire,” Mr. Tale predicted, “and become the biggest power in the region.”

Victimization plays an important role in the Islamic republic’s official ideology. When the shah was ousted in 1979, the same revolutionaries who ended his rule said his downfall illustrated the plots committed by the United States, dropping the king after he had lost his usefulness.

Iranian textbooks now say that when Iranian students took over the United States Embassy in 1979, taking diplomats and other personnel hostage for 444 days, they did so to forestall a coup d’état like the one organized by the C.I.A. in 1953, which led to the toppling of a democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh.

The list of perceived wrongdoings is so long that every major current event involving the United States is explained by the state’s ideologists as a plot to undermine Iranian interests.

Ayatollah Khamenei labeled the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, a “suspicious event.” Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called them a “plot.” The invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan that came after were clearly meant to create a ring of military bases around the country, officials have often said. The sanctions imposed over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program are “shackles.”

“Our country and our revolution are oppressed, but we are powerful,” Ayatollah Khamenei said on Thursday.

On the streets, where many are openly critical of the clerical government —its economic mismanagement, widespread corruption and a lack of freedoms — threats to the nation still hit a very raw nerve, even among the educated classes.

“America supports any group that breaks a ring of this Iran-Syria-Lebanon-Palestine chain,” said Amir Hosein Mohammadi, a radiologist. He was referring to what Iran’s leaders call the “axis of resistance,” the focal point of opposition to United States interests in the region.

Iran’s support for Syria’s president, Mr. Assad, never gained much traction among ordinary people here, who care more about the economy than about propping up the leader of a distant land.

But why would the United States now declare ISIS a threat to its national security and say it is ready to bomb the group inside Syria, thereby bolstering Mr. Assad by attacking his most formidable opponent?

“The United States created a monster, even beyond their own control,” said Mr. Mohammadi. “If they don’t stop ISIS now, nobody can predict what will happen in the future.”

"It's clear to me that we need to train and equip Syrian rebels and other groups in the Middle East that need some help," Reid, D-Nev., said Wednesday.

Lordy, these people are dense.

Syrian rebels and other groups?

It was questionable as to how many 'moderate' rebels there were in Syria a few years back. If there are any left they are now so weak that we would be throwing good money after bad (assuming the CIA has been helping them right along) and probably just arming more radical groups down the road when they capture the arms from our 'moderates'. And who are these 'other groups' Reid is talking about? And who would we send over to vet them if they do exist? The CIA? Right, they have a great track record. Good job Brownie. Maybe John McCain? He has experience with terrorists. Maybe Harry can take a delegation from the Senate and nose around. My impression is that the $500 million request for arms for the 'moderates' was more than anything just a PR move to show the administration was 'doing something'.

Every group over there is using social media to build support, or as a recruitment tool, or to beg arms from wherever they can get them, or all of the above. According to each of them, they are the only one over there with truth, justice, and the American way on their side. IMO, the post Deuce put up recently on the Kurds falls into that category. The Kurds and the Peshmerga are relatively speaking one of the better groups over there from what I can see. That being said, the film itself seemed to emphasize the role of the YPG and the PKK. The message was clear, hey we are the good guys, help us out with a little aid and some arms. I find it hard to view a terrorist group as a 'good guy'. I expect blow back here when I say I'll take their little video with a dose of salt.

Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.